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One month after the theatrical release of Disney's western blockbuster The Lone Ranger, it's clear the film is a failure for the studio. So far the film has only pulled in just over $175 million on a budget of $215 million, though some estimate the cost could be even higher. Therefore, Disney isn't too happy with producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and they're going to be a bit more cautious with his next big film for the studio. Pirates of the Caribbean 5 is slated to start shooting early next year, and Disney is already restructuring their deal with Bruckheimer, which might result in the producer losing final cut privileges.

For those who don't know, having the power of final cut means your decisions on the film are final, and no studio executive can supersede them. But Disney is currently looking at taking that away from Bruckheimer after budget problems turned into a box office failure for The Lone Ranger and will definitely lose the studio money. In addition, The Wrap reports Disney is looking to cut the budget down to $200 million from the initial $250 million (which is significant, but not crippling). The studio is already cutting costs by having Kon-Tiki directors Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg at the helm instead of a big name Hollywood director, and they definitely have to recoup a lot of money following their western disaster this summer.

Disney's apprehension is wise, especially since the last Pirates of the Caribbean film felt lackluster at best. Of course, the franchise has quite the large and loyal fanbase around the world, so the high seas sequel isn't nearly as risky as reviving a nearly century-old western property for the big screen with an untested star like Armie Hammer as the title hero. Here's hoping the fresh talent behind the camera will make Pirates an exciting adventure so we're not just getting Johnny Depp drunkenly stumbling around a ship again.

Doesn't make a lot of sense given that PIRATES 4 brought in just over a billion despite having lackluster reviews.

Sean

Well, The reason this is happening is because of what had happened with The Lone Ranger. It lost a bunch of money in the box office, by not making as much as Jerry Bruckheimer and the rest of the people at Disney had hoped it would make. So they are trying to prevent it from happening with Pirates 5.

Nick

I think that's next to impossible given the massive fanbase of Pirates. Lone Ranger was destined for box office failure given its massive cost.

Sean

@b8bfc2c6de51c120f89ca1654bda8a3a:disqus Remember what happened with Pirates 3? It had a budget that $300 million dollars or more. The Lone Ranger's production budget was $250 million dollars. The Lone Ranger's production budget could have been far worse then it what it turned out to be. I am glad that Pirates 5's production budget will only be $200 million, which is perfect because Pirates 2's production budget was $225 million.

Ricardo_Pt

Now Bruckheimer as to go to Kickstarter :p

Brian Sleider

Not his fault he was handed a shitty idea and expected to turn it into the next PotC.

Isildur_of_Numenor

They should give final cut to Johnny Depp. It is well known that he never watches his movies. Draw the conclusions...

Nielsen700

Final cut should be given to the director(s).

David Banner

Tron Legacy, JC of M and Lone Ranger, 3 movies that all lost Di$ney a lot of money within 3 years. I understand that they are careful. They should start by not having Rønning and Sandberg at the helm.

Chris Groves

Putting Tron Legacy in the same territory as the other two is just ridiculous
Tron Legacy - $400 million worldwide on a $170 million budget
John Carter - $282 million worldwide on a $250 million budget
The Lone Ranger - $175 million worldwide(so far) on a $215 million budget.
One of these movies grossed well over twice it's budget at the worldwide box office, the others did not.

David Banner

You are forgetting the cut of the theaters, costs of prints and advertising and that foreign can take 3 years to collect. Merch sales have been low. Tron was not what they had hoped for, they were left with coins when the bills were paid, but they expect to get out of the red in a few years. I know $400 million seems like a success, it is a lot of money, but there was little profit at the end. It did much better than the other two, but Disney has put it in the same "failure shelf". There is currently no plans for a Tron Legacy sequel.
Tron Legacy's budget was later adjusted, to $200 million(+ prints and advertising).
Hollywood accounting does seem like magic at times, but the numbers do not lie too much regarding these films.
It's still the highest gross for a first time director and a good reboot for a series.

cobrazombie

Well said.

Chris Groves

Still, typical 'break even point' for most films is to gross twice the budget worldwide. Tron Legacy did that. And this isn't even considering things like home market sales.
It's not a hit, but to call it a bomb and group it with The Lone Ranger and John Carter is absurd. Bombs are utter disasters, Tron Legacy might not have reached expectations, but to call any film that managed to double it's budget in theaters a disaster is just ridiculous.

cobrazombie

Tron: Legacy still underperformed for Disney's expectations.

Al

Don't blame the people you hire, Disney...blame Disney.

Chris Groves

Well, if we are going to give thanks to the people they hire when it works out..then shouldn't they give blame when it doesn't work out?
Oh, if the film is a hit and succeeds, all thanks goes to the filmmakers, but if it fails, then the blame is on Disney.
This is the same kind of thing Prometheus and Man of Steel went through. If it's good, it's because of Ridley Scott, if it sucks, it's because of Damon Lindelof. If it's good, it's because of Nolan, if not, it's because of Snyder.
I hate double standards.

Blame goes to the folks who didn't watch it.
"Oh god another movie by such and such, and such an such, I'm not gonna see that!"
or
"Gawd I'm tired of Disney and Johny Depp, I'm so much better than this, they just wanna rip me off..."blah blah blah cry cry cry

Sean

Exactly.

Nielsen700

But... the movie sucked.

Andiana

a bit foolish for Disney to doubt Bruckheimer... the first 4 Pirates films did amazingly well at the box office and is probably one of the top popular film franchises currently - for them to make this decision off the Lone Ranger is ridiculous - not to mention that the film was actually REALLY good, and that the hatred from the critics and the basic unpopularity of the "Lone Ranger" is what counted against the film.

cobrazombie

If the Lone Ranger was actually as good as you say, audience word-of-mouth would counteract the critics and "unpopularity". At the end of the day, the box office numbers speak for themselves.
But I agree with you about Bruckheimer and the success of the previous Pirates movies (and his other movie and TV productions over the years).

cobrazombie

The studios definitely need to keep those production budgets from going over the $200 million mark. That's a ridiculous number anyway. Throwing more and more money at ideas isn't going to make a better movie, despite what the MBAs in charge seem to think. They'll see more frequent and bigger losses if it continues.